%0 Journal Article
%T The Optimum Window-to-Wall Ratio in Office Buildings for HotˋHumid, HotˋDry, and Cold Climates in Iran
%A Amin Habibi
%A Ata Chokhachian
%A Jalil Shaeri
%A Mahmood Yaghoubi
%J Environments | An Open Access Journal from MDPI
%D 2019
%R https://doi.org/10.3390/environments6040045
%X About half of the energy loss in buildings is wasted through windows. Determining the optimum window-to-wall ratio (WWR) for different building facades would reduce such energy losses. The optimum WWR is the window area that minimizes the total annual energy of cooling, heating, and lighting. The purpose of this study is to investigate the optimum WWR of different facades of an office building. For this purpose, a sample building is simulated by means of DesignBuilder software in order to investigate the annual solar heat gain, cooling load, heating load, and lighting consumption for the three cities of Bushehr, Shiraz, and Tabriz, and optimum window areas of office buildings for the three cities are determined. Based on the results, the optimum window area for the north building facade for all climates is 20每30%. This amount for the southern facade of the building in Bushehr, Shiraz, and Tabriz is, respectively, 20每30%, 10每30%, and 20每50%. The optimum window area for the eastern and western building facades in Bushehr is 30每50%; in Tabriz it is 40每70%, and in Shiraz it is 20每60% and 40每70%, respectively. The difference between the maximum and minimum energy consumption with different window areas in Bushehr and Shiraz is 20每100% and in Tabriz it is 16每25%. View Full-Tex
%U https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/6/4/45